And it's on display at Minneapolis auditions for the sixth season of 'America's Got Talent'

It may have been a snowy mess outside Wednesday, but inside the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, there was a different flurry of activity happening. Cameras were busy filming an eclectic group of auditioners to feature on the upcoming season of NBC's popular talent competition "America's Got Talent." And while the afternoon show proceeded as planned, it wasn't without a hitch.

Earlier in the day, Piers Morgan — one of the show's celebrity judges along with Sharon Osbourne and Howie Mandel — took to Twitter saying his Delta flight was 50 minutes from the Twin Cities when it turned around and headed back to New York. Morgan continued to tweet his frustrations with the airline throughout the day. Wednesday's 7 p.m. "AGT" filming was canceled because of his absence.

Fortunately, the more than 1,000 audience members at the afternoon taping didn't seem to mind that Morgan was missing. The enthusiastic crowd, filled with lots of teens on spring break, cheered and jeered the 13 acts that each had 90 seconds to perform for the judges on stage in front of a red, white and blue American flag-inspired background. (The media were asked not to reveal who was eliminated and who made it through to the Las Vegas round.)

The second act to perform — St. Luke's Bottle Band from Illinois — featured 22 colorful members who played a Tchaikovsky piece using a variety of bottles.

Local comedy/magic act the Halls of Magic were told by Osbourne that they were the "cheesiest thing" she's ever seen. Lys Agnes — a stunning Colorado singer — showed off her unique pipes and earned a standing ovation from the crowd after singing "Ave Marie." A college student from Fargo, N.D., managed to get into a burping match with Mandel. A man in a diaper did an inexplicable baby act complete with pacifier and rattle. And Remedy, a quintet from Chicago, whipped the audience into a frenzy with the Temptation's "Just My Imagination."

The highlight of the afternoon came courtesy of a parrot named Echo from Lake Geneva, Wis., that squawked like a chicken, sang "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and had such a great laugh, it brought a majority of the audience to their feet.

"Do you think he'd be interested in sitting in for Piers?" joked Osbourne after watching Echo.

"AGT" fans Sue Stoehr and Karen Rogalla, both from Little Canada, cleared their afternoons to attend the show. Since it was being filmed for TV, there were various stops and starts for everything from technical problems to touching up the judges' makeup.

"They really do drag things out for the filming," Stoehr said. "But it's still fun."

After filming, the judges reflected on the day.

Joking about the absence of their fellow judge, Osbourne said, "Can I just ask, 'Piers who?' "

Mandel said he was impressed with the quality of talent he witnessed.

"I think we saw here in Minneapolis great acts," said Mandel, who cited Lys Agnes as an early favorite. "I think we saw a few I bet you'll see in the finals."

For the most part, Osbourne and Mandel offered up helpful advice to eliminated contestants.

"It's very easy to sit there and be cutting and be rude to people; that's not what we're about," Osbourne said. "We want to be constructive, and we want to give them something to take away and think about."

Not only did a couple of the acts surprise them, so did the menacing Minnesota weather.

"We're in the midst of doing a big summer show and we start in spring time," Mandel said. "I didn't think I'd need this hat. It was a freak storm. The blizzard of 2011."

"America's Got Talent's" sixth season kicks off May 31 with footage from the Minneapolis auditions airing some time in June.

Amy Carlson Gustafson can be reached at 651-228-5561. Follow her on Twitter: @amygustafson. Read more about local arts and entertainment at blogs.twincities. com/playlist.

IF YOU GO

Since Wednesday night's filming was canceled, an additional show was added for 10:15 a.m. today along with today's previously scheduled 1 and 7 p.m. shows. For free tickets, go to ocatv.com.